Chapter 297: The Box Office Exceeding Expectations

Akiwara Yuto knew nothing of the speculations regarding Toei Film.

He hurried to the office rented for the temporary film crew and met Asano Aiko, who had just returned from outside.

Upon seeing him, Asano Aiko said excitedly, "Akiwara, the opening day box office results are out."

Akiwara Yuto smiled. "Go on, how much is it?"

Watching Asano Aiko's expression, he vaguely guessed it was good news.

Asano Aiko took a deep breath and said forcefully, "Yesterday's box office revenue totaled 23.56 million yen! It far exceeded our expectations!"

Akiwara Yuto hadn't placed much importance on it initially, but he paused, feeling slightly surprised.

A figure of over 20 million yen was nothing to write home about; in absolute terms, this result couldn't compare to the opening day box office of other films, being only about one-tenth of some hit movies.

But what surprised him was that this number exceeded his expectations by a full 100%!

You see, he had originally estimated a box office of only a little over 10 million yen.

He asked curiously, "Wasn't it only showing on 30 screens? Why is the box office so high?"

After "Memories of Murder" was finished, Asano Aiko contacted some cinemas in Tokyo. However, the theaters only cared about profits and didn't pay much attention to Akiwara Yuto's fame.

After all, no matter how famous he was, to the audience, he was not as important as the film's lead actors and actresses.

So, although they eventually negotiated with 30 theaters, each theater only arranged one screen to test the waters for the film.

Asano Aiko's expression became even more excited as she explained, "I asked some of the theater owners at the time.

They said the film 'Memories of Murder' sparked a lot of interest among the audience, so they increased the screenings and added more screens.

Yesterday, there were at least 40 screens showing it! And they added quite a few midnight screenings too!"

"Midnight screenings? Aren't those time slots usually garbage?" Akiwara Yuto asked, puzzled.

In his impression, midnight screenings were basically empty, sometimes even allowing a few people to book the whole theater.

"Akiwara, you're wrong. 'Memories of Murder' is a premiere, after all! And its quality is superior to other midnight movies, so it attracted quite a few viewers!"

Because the box office was excellent, Asano Aiko's pressure eased significantly, and she smiled beautifully.

"After this news got out, more than 10 other theaters contacted me today, hoping to screen the film. And the phones have been ringing constantly just now."

Akiwara Yuto felt relieved; with excellent film quality, word-of-mouth would naturally attract theater operators.

After all, for them, profit is what matters most!

Akiwara Yuto said with a smile, "I expect more and more theaters will contact you later; your workload is going to increase."

Asano Aiko waved her hand dismissively. "I'm actually happier with a bit more of this kind of hard work."

She thought for a moment and asked, "Can we arrange the follow-up promotional plan now?"

Up until now, due to Akiwara Yuto's requirements, only a portion of the 50 million yen promotional budget had been used.

In her mind, the situation was excellent, and it was the perfect time to strike while the iron was hot and release all the promotions.

Who knows, under a promotional offensive, hundreds of theaters might contact them and start showing it soon!

But Akiwara Yuto did not agree, saying instead, "Wait a little longer. I'll notify you in these two days."

After sending Asano Aiko off to busy herself with other work, he stepped aside and made another call to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

The film "Memories of Murder" was adapted from the Kanagawa murder case.

But in the promotions before the film, he had never emphasized this point, only letting people privately spread the word that it was adapted from a true case.

The reason was that he needed to ride the coattails of the police department's hot topic to create a social ripple effect.

Before this, although the police department had identified who the specific suspect was, they had been unable to catch the person.

Lacking further confessions, the police department had not released relevant news for fear of a scandal involving arresting the wrong person.

But as far as he knew, the police department had caught the person in these last two days.

If they could truly confirm the person was the killer, the relevant topic would soon drown out the current public discourse.

And the film "Memories of Murder" could borrow this heat to achieve a rapid surge in box office.

"Assistant Inspector Soma, it's me, Akiwara Yuto."

After the call connected, Akiwara Yuto asked politely, "Has that fugitive confessed yet?"

Soma Daiyu said politely, "Yes, he has confessed. We plan to hold a press conference the day after tomorrow to announce this news."

His voice was very bright; after all, he had been called "useless" for so long, and now they had finally caught the person.

However, he himself knew that if not for Akiwara Yuto helping to point out the psychological profile, who knows how many years it would have taken to catch the killer.

Akiwara Yuto nodded. The killer was caught and had confessed, and the police department was preparing to hold a press conference, so he could now execute his previous plan.

He calculated for a moment in his heart and then made a request to Soma Daiyu that was not too excessive.

After hearing it, Soma Daiyu showed a look of astonishment, but after weighing it, he agreed.

Time quickly reached the day of the press conference.

In the conference room of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department building, a high-ranking official acting as the spokesperson announced a piece of news to the dozens of reporters below.

"After 3 years, we have finally captured the killer of the Kanagawa serial murder case!

And the killer has confessed to all his crimes!"

Click, click!

Upon hearing this news, the many reporters sitting below stood up one after another to take photos.

Kanagawa County is within a 50-mile radius south of Tokyo, so the people of Tokyo were very concerned about this murder case!

Because the case had remained unsolved for so long, it had made many citizens feel panicked.

Some people even dared not let their wives or daughters go out on the street alone, creating an extremely negative social impact.

But today, this case was finally announced as solved!

This was big news that could be placed on the front page!

I bet the newspapers will sell out tomorrow!

For a time, the room was filled with the sound of cameras and flashing lights.

It wasn't until a full 2 minutes later that it stopped.

Just as a reporter was about to raise their hand to ask a related question, the spokesperson said one more sentence.

"For solving this case, we are very grateful to the mystery writer Mr. Akiwara Yuto! We thank him for his contribution to this case!"

Hearing this, the reporters below all showed very stunned expressions.

Akiwara Yuto, isn't he a writer?

What does this have to do with him?